Defiant Soul

APPARENTLY, YOUR STARVED STATE HAS ALSO INTERFERED WITH YOUR ABILITY TO CARRY ITEMS IN YOUR INVENTORY. ITS ABILITLY TO STORE ITEMS IS BASED ON YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND STRENGTH STATS AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR MARK IS CURRENTLY HELPING YOU TO SUPPORT ITS CURRENT MAXIMUM. FROM WHAT I CAN UNDERSTAND, THE LOCKED MYSTERY ITEMS ARE SOUL BOUND ITEMS THAT SHARD CREATED FOR YOU BEFORE LEAVING YOU WITH ME. THEY ARE YOURS AND WILL ALWAYS BE SO BUT YOU MUST EARN THEM FIRST.

“I suppose they’re potentially very powerful and you can’t tell me anything about them.” I guessed.

YOU ARE CORRECT.

Too disappointed to explore my items further, I sighed and closed my inventory. It was followed by my disappointing status page, and I continued on my way. I didn’t know how much time had passed before a dark mass dropped from the ceiling in front of me and landed on what I assumed was another Mana Rat. It certainly screamed like one.

Startled by the sudden action, I yelped in surprise and stumbled back to fall on my rump again. The mass turned towards me in response, and I was treated to the view of a giant monster spider as its glowing camouflage changed to highlight its features. It was the size of a basset hound and twice as fat with six thick legs, four large glowing eyes, and two extra-long, hairy ‘feelers’ that it was waving at me in alarm. I shrunk back from it and its glowing lessened as it turned to chewing on the rat it had caught and killed. It kept brushing me with its feelers, most likely to keep track of me while it ate.

“Let me guess, a level 0 mana spider?” I assumed.

YOU ARE CORRECT. MANA SPIDERS ARE A NON-AGGRESSIVE TYPE OF VERMIN THAT PREY ON SMALLER VERMIN. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT ATTACKING YOU UNLESS YOU THREATEN IT OR TRY TO STEAL ITS KILL. EVEN IN A SWARM, THEY WILL NOT ATTACK THINGS THAT ARE BIGGER THAN IT. IT ALSO MEANS THAT WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO THE LEAK. BIGGER VERMIN EQUAL MORE AMBIENT MANA.

“That’s good to know, I guess. I take it, mana rats are dangerous in a swarm?” I asked.

YES, AND YOU ARE STALLING. YOU NEED TO EAT AS YOU ONLY HAVE 10 MINUTES LEFT BEFORE YOUR STARVATION STARTS TO EFFECT YOU AGAIN.

“Damnit. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. This is going to be a new low for me. I’ve never stooped so low as having to eat bugs to survive.” I commented as I eyed the massive arachnid before me.

FROM WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT WHERE YOU WERE FOUND BY SHARD, THERE WAS A HIGH CHANCE OF YOU GETTING SICK FROM EATING AND POSSIBLY DYING FROM THE RESULTING ILLNESS. ON THE UPSIDE, YOUR DEMONIC FATE WILL PROTECT YOU FROM FALLING ILL IN MOST CASES. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. ALSO, I HAVE HEARD THEY TASTE VERY GOOD. I DO NOT EAT MYSELF SO I DO NOT KNOW. I HAVE HOWEVER SEEN DEMONS EATING THEM WITH RELISH WHENEVER THEY GET THE CHANCE. EVEN HIGHER-LEVEL DEMONS WILL GO AFTER THEM EVEN WHEN THERE IS BETTER QUALITY PREY AROUND.

“Huh. Really?” I asked.

YES. REALLY.

“Alright. Do I need to touch it in order to use the skill on it?”

FOR NOW, YES. GETTING CLOSER TO THE CENTER MASS WILL ALSO HELP UNTIL YOU GET USED TO IT.

I nodded numbly at the advice and confirmation before inching my way closer across the floor to the overgrown nightmare fuel. I tried to make myself seem as nonthreatening as possible so it wouldn’t attack or worse, run away before I could catch it. I wouldn’t blame it if it did – I wouldn’t want to end up as someone’s meal either – but I needed to eat as much as anyone else did. I also didn’t want to die from starvation so soon after coming back and I knew I was starting to cut it close.

I felt a familiar weakness accompanied with clawing hunger pains just as I got close enough to touch it. It had paused in its eating of the rat to watch me warily but seemed to relax and returned to its meal when all I did was gently pet one of its supporting legs. I mumbled a soft apology to it before lunging forward and grabbing the leg I had been petting.

I immediately activated the skill before the spider could retaliate and felt it take control of my body. Like the first time, I felt the space inside of my mouth grow when it opened, and the spider shrieked in fear as it was sucked into it. It was also crushed at the back of my throat like the rat from earlier had been as I swallowed it and again my stomach rebelled when the skill released me. This time there was still some water in it from earlier and I ended up emptying it out onto the floor. Once everything had settled down inside of me, I grabbed the magic flask of water from my inventory and quickly rinsed the taste of bile and acid from my mouth.

“Gah. Is it always going to be this rough every time I use this skill?” I asked the system as I put away the flask.

LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, IT SHOULD GET BETTER WITH EACH USE. KEEP IN MIND, THE ORIGIN OF THIS SKILL WAS ALSO INTENDED TO ONLY BE USED BY A DEMONIC BEING. PROBLEMS ARE TO BE EXPECTED. YOU MUST ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OF YOUR OWN REACTIONS TO USING IT.

“So, there’s also a mind related thing to this?”

THERE MAY VERY WELL BE ONE.

“Greeaat. That’s one more thing to add to the shit pile.” I groaned back.

DO YOU REGRET YOUR CHOICES PRIOR TO YOUR REVIVAL?

“I’m starting to, but I can’t change them now. I’ll see where I go from here once this mana thingy is taken care of and I’m back in civilization. I still need to get out of here alive.” I told it.

THAT IS FAIR. ONCE YOU HAVE, YOU WILL HAVE DONE WHAT I HAVE ASKED. YOU MAY DO WHATEVER YOU WANT AFTERWARDS AS PROMISED.

I nodded in agreement to that and turned my attention to my waiting messages. I had felt my strength return while we had been talking which meant my fate had finished digesting something.

YOU HAVE CAPTURED A FEEDING MANA SPIDER!

YOU HAVE USED CONSUME ON FEEDING MANA SPIDER

FEEDING MANA SPIDER HAS BEEN SLAIN

MANA SPIDER IS A LEVEL 0 VERMIN. NO EXPERIENCE GAINED.

YOU HAVE SWALLOWED 1 MANA SPIDER CORPSE AND 1 HALF DIGESTED MANA RAT CORPSE

DIGESTION HAS BEGUN ON MANA RAT CORPSE

DIGESTION OF MANA RAT CORPSE HAD BEEN COMPLETED

YOU HAVE RECEIVED ONE HALF HOUR OF RELIEF FROM STARVATION PENALTIES

DIGESTION OF MANA SPIDER CORPSE HAS BEGUN.

I waited for a while longer for more messages, but none were forth coming. It made sense for it take longer than just a rat since it was quite a bit bigger. Instead of waiting around for it to finish, I got up and continued on my way down the tunnel. I started finding rooms and more tunnels not long after that, but the direction of the pulsing converged into the one I was in, and I could always explore the complex later if I survived. I doubted I would find anything useful in here after all this time, but I could always hope.

I was attacked by another rat along the way, and I kicked it in retaliation. Neither the blow nor it being thrown into the wall killed it, but it was enough to scare it away. I let it go as my message indicator had started to blink at me.

WARNING! YOU HAVE BEEN ATTACKED!

MANA RAT MISSES

YOU HAVE KICKED AN ENEMY

MANA RAT FLEES

YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE DIGESTION OF MANA SPIDER CORPSE

FATE OF THE DEMON LORD OF GLUTTONY HAS GRANTED STORED STATS DUE TO THE CONSUMPTION AND DIGESTION OF A MIDDLE-SIZED ENEMY.

YOU HAVE UNLOCKED +1 ENDURANCE

YOU HAVE UNLOCKED +1 VITALITY

YOU HAVE UNLOCKED +1 STRENGTH

YOUR HEALTH HAS BEEN FULLY RESTORED

YOUR MANA HAS BEEN REFILLED

YOUR STAMINA HAS BEEN REFILLED

PENALTIES OF THE CONDITION ‘STARVATION’ HAVE ALLEVIATED FOR THREE MORE HOURS

NO OTHER REWARDS GIVEN DUE TO MANA SPIDER BEING A LEVEL 0 VERMIN

I raised an eyebrow at the results from the mana spider not expecting to get anything before dismissing the messages and opening my stat page to check the results.

NAME: Samuel (hidden: Jackson)

RACE: Human

AGE: 18

SOUL TRAITS: Defiant(worn), Merciful(neutral), Kind(neutral), Noble(strained)

FATE: Demon Lord of Gluttony(hidden)

STATUS: System Champion

STATS:

Level: 0

Health: 60/60

Mana: 120/120

Stamina: 6/6

CP(hidden): 0/0

Strength: 4+2(reserved due to low resources)

Vitality: 6

Endurance: 6

Defense: 1+5(reserved due to low resources)

Wisdom: 6

Intelligence: 12

Agility: 3+3(reserved due to low resources)

Dexterity: 4+2(reserved due to low resources)

Charisma: 2+5(reserved due to low resources)

Luck: 7

Free Attribute Points: 0

SKILLS: Stealth

AFFLICTIONS: Starvation(suspended/3:10:20)

BONUSES: None

OTHER: None

“Looks like eating these things does have some good come out of it.” I commented idly before continuing.

I started to encounter more critters after that, but they were mostly mana rats and no real use to me other than adding time to keep my starvation at bay. I did encounter several more mana spiders as well and those I did eat until they stopped unlocking stats for me. I left them alone after that and even saved a little white one that was called an Albino Mana Spider Sling.

A mana rat was attacking it when I found it, and it had lost a few of its legs before I could get the rat off it. It was no bigger than the palm of my hand and it was covered in a layer of fine hairs that were silky soft – where it wasn’t sticky with its blood. Feeling sorry for the little peaceful critter, I took to carrying it with me to protect it.

As for the rat? Well, I made an exception and ate it.

It was the last aggressive rat I came across as the critters turned peaceful and more plentiful. The reason soon became clear when the tunnel ended in a massive cavern filled with a great number of glowing pillars that stretched from floor to ceiling and were so wide that not even three of me could have reach all the way around them.

One of them near the entrance had a small crack in it and a thin stream of glowing fluid flowing from it. The crack, the stream, and the small pool it ended in were surrounded with small crystals that matched the pillars. More crystals were scattered about the cavern but were hard to see on the account of all the life that was in there.

There were the mana rats and spiders that I was familiar with along with the mana wisps the System had told me about. However, there was so much more than them in here that the System had not told me about. There were bats the size of my head flying around. Glowing beetles of all kinds ranging from the size of my thumb to beach balls. Floating jelly fish that gently bobbed up and down in the air with every movement. Glowing moss, fungi, and lichen that covered the walls, floor and ceiling in great spanning mats.

“Woah! I think we found your leak!” I exclaimed as I spun slowly in a circle in a vain attempt to take it all in with my eyes.

INDEED. IT APPEARS THIS PLACE WILL BE WELL ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A DUNGEON ONCE THE MANA ABSORPTION HAS BEEN DISABLED.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked in concern.